NEW ORLEANS - The Tulane Green Wave roared out of the gates in each half, but had to hang on late for a 49-44 win over Tulsa Thursday at home in the First Round of the Conference USA Women's Basketball Championship. Brett Benzio recorded a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds, while Indira Kaljo scored 12 points to lead Tulane and give head coach Lisa Stockton her 300th win at the helm of Tulane.

The sixth-seeded Green Wave (18-13 overall) forced 22 Tulsa turnovers, and charged out to an 11-3 lead in the first half, and outscored Tulsa 15-0 to start the second half. But Tulane sat back on its haunches, as the 11th-seeded Golden Hurricane used a 23-6 run to nearly eradicate a 20-point Tulane lead.

Senior point guard Ashley Langford handed out nine assists for Tulane, and hit the game-sealing free throws with 11 seconds remaining. She also recorded four steals. Kaljo connected on five-of-12 from the field, two-of-eight from three-point range. Senior Megan Valicevic chipped in four steals, five points and three assists.

Kara Vaughan led Tulsa with 19 points, but no other Tulsa player reached double-figures. The Golden Hurricane's season comes to an end at 7-23.

Kaljo opened the game with a pair of three-pointers and the Wave forced turnovers on the first two Tulsa possessions as Tulane stormed out to an early 8-0 lead. After a jumper from Kara Vaughan, Chassity Brown drained a three and Tiffany Aidoo scored in transition off a Langford steal for a 13-3 lead with 13:38 to go in the first half.

Tulsa reeled off eight-straight points, keyed by Vaughan's three-pointer. Vaughn scored 10 of Tulsa's first 13 points and Adria Phillips tied the game with a jumper. Brett Benzio picked up four points for the Wave, two from the stripe and two from the field as Tulane recaptured the lead 23-17.

Kaljo scored on a lay-up, and Benzio added a jumper before Tulsa's Chanice Scott scored back-to-back buckets for the Golden Hurricane. But Megan Valicevic knocked down a jumper with six seconds before half as Tulane led at the break, 27-21.

The Green Wave were led by Kaljo's eight points, while Vaughan paced Tulsa with 10. Each team shot 40 percent from the field, but Tulane forced 13 first half turnovers and scored 16 points of Tulsa miscues.

In the second half, Tulane opened with a 15-0 run, holding Tulsa scoreless for the first eight minutes of the half. Kaljo and Benzio converted a pair of baskets, and Valicevic and Lindsey also scored. Stretching back to the 1:50 mark of the first half, Tulane held Tulsa scoreless for 10:16.

Tulane led by as many as 41-21, but the Golden Hurricane reeled off a 23-6 run. Vaughn scored six points for Tulsa while Teka Brooks came off the bench for five as Tulane saw its lead shrink to 44-34 with 7:35 remaining. A jumper from Bradley cut the margin to eight, and a three-pointer from Vaughn cut the gap to 46-39 with 4:16 remaining.

Tulsa held Tulane to one field goal in a six minute stretch, and Tatum Beer drained a three-pointer to make it just a 47-44 Tulane advantage with 2:41 left.

Tulane made a stop on Tulsa's next possession, and then missed a shot on the offensive end. But Megan Valicevic came up with the offensive rebound with 43 seconds left, and Tulane kicked it out to run clock.

Langford drove the lane, and Benzio came down with the offensive rebound with 15 seconds left, forcing Tulsa to foul with 13 seconds left. Langford hit both ends of a one-and-one and Tulane held off the Hurricane's final attempt for a 49-44 win.

Tulsa is the eighth opponent Tulane has held to under 50 points this season. The Green Wave entered the game holding C-USA opponents to an average of 7.5 points under their season scoring average in conference games. The Wave held Tulsa to 12 points below their average. The Green Wave also held Second Team All-Conference player Larrissa Williams to a season-low four points. Williams scored a team-high 19 points on Saturday in the meeting between Tulane and Tulsa in the regular season finale.

Stockton, Tulane's and C-USA's winningest coach, is now 300-154 (.661) in 15 years as head coach of the Green Wave. In 18 seasons, she is 263-181, including three years at Greensboro College.

Tulane advances to face third-seeded Southern Miss on Friday at 5:30 p.m. Tulane, which is now 4-0 at home in C-USA games, has won nine in a row over the Golden Eagles at Fogelman Arena. Southern Miss has not beat Tulane in New Orleans since 1997. Southern Miss' last win at Fogelman came against South Florida in the first round of the 1999 C-USA tournament.